Essay On Importance Of Professional Organizations

949 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: National education association history

The Importance of Professional Organizations
Growing up, I was always told to find what you love doing most then find a way to get paid for it. Early on, I realized I will have two great loves in my life: helping people and reading. These passions of mine has inspired me to teach and share my passion with others; specifically with at-risk students and low-income families who may struggle with literacy. With this in mind, I find that the National Education Association (NEA) and the International Reading Association (IRA) are two professional organizations that I can greatly benefit from.
The National Education Association is one of the largest professional employee organizations. The organization was born in 1857 out of the need for a better public education system (NEA, Our History, 2014). Teachers who saw prevalence of illiteracy among children who will later become adults felt that it was paramount to do something about it. Eventually, they joined with the American Teachers Association and grew to serve over 3 million members from educators who teach pre-school to graduate level (NEA, Our History, 2014). Their vision is to have a great public school for everyone while advocating for education professionals. Today, they focus on important issues such as child safety, the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB), Common Core Standards, Education Funding, and resources for parents. They offer tools such as lesson plans, classroom management techniques, teaching strategies as well as offer advice and support (NEA, Tools and Ideas, 2014).
There are many advantages in joining the NEA. For one, they are a very large organization that has its strength in numbers. Their main focus is to improve education in the public system. If I were to join...

... middle of paper ...

... desirable organization to be part of it. Large organizations such as the NEA focuses on a number of issues, so diverse, that it is almost better to be a smaller organization because you can then just focus on one area. Therefore, being small can be a drawback but it also can be a great advantage. While the IRA may be small, they have a good mission and are helping people all over the world.
Professional organizations can offer a wealth of resources to educators and education professionals. They can advocate for you, help you build a network to collaborate with, help you build your career, keep you up-to-date with the latest practices, as well as policies in education. When it is time to graduate, I will more than likely join one or both of these professional organizations because their support will serve me well in my continuous quest for professional development.

Show More
Related

  • Summary Of Deborah Brandt's 'Sponsors Of Literacy'

    688 Words  | 2 Pages

    Deborah Brandt (1998) wrote “Sponsors of Literacy”, a journal where she explained her findings of the research she has done on how different people across the nation learned to read and write, born between 1900, and 1980 (p. 167). She interviewed many people that had varying forms of their literacy skills, whether it was from being poor, being rich, or just being in the wrong spot at the wrong time.

    Read More

  • I Just Wanna Be Average by Mike Rose

    1433 Words  | 3 Pages

    Literacy, or the capability to comprehend, translate, utilize, make, process, assess, and speak information connected with fluctuating settings and displayed in differing organizations, assumes an essential part in molding a young's persons trajectory in life. The ability to read speaks to a key factor of scholarly, social, and financial success (Snow, Burns, & Griffin, 1998). These abilities likewise speak to a fundamental segment to having a satisfying life and turning into an effective worker and overall person (Snow, Burns, & Griffin, 1999). Interestingly, recent studies have demonstrated that low reading skills lead to critical hindrances in monetary and social achievement. As stated by the National Center for Education Statistics, adults with lower levels of reading skills and literacy have a lower average salary. Another study evaluated that 17 to 18 percent of adults with "below average" literacy aptitudes earned less than $300 a week, though just 3 to 6 percent of adults with "proficient" reading abilities earned less than $300 a week (Snow, Burns, & Griffin, 1998).

    Read More

  • The United Way: Doing the Most With Your Contribution

    1114 Words  | 3 Pages

    Stewart, Stacy D. "United Way's Focus on Early Grade Reading." National Civic Review 100 (2011): 37. Print.

    Read More

  • Analyzing a School Literacy Program

    866 Words  | 2 Pages

    Gomez, L. M., & Gomez, K. (2007). Reading for learning: Literacy supports for 21st-century work. Phi

    Read More

  • Education Revolution: Why the No Child Left Behind Act Didn't Work

    1710 Words  | 4 Pages

    Education is the foundation of American society. It empowers the youth of America to become the successful leaders this country needs for the future. Education has been one of America’s top priorities since 1965, when the Elementary and Secondary Education Act was passed. Now, education is controlled by the No Child Left Behind Act, which was launched in January 8, 2002. This act was passed with intentions from the government to provide Americans with a more superior education system. However, The No Child Left Behind Act carried many flaws which were left unseen to a vast majority of the public. This act limited American students by not allowing them to demonstrate their full academic potentials while proceeding in school. While the act was still fairly fresh, there was already evidence to prove that it had already gotten off to a bad beginning. For the crucial math and science courses, statistics showed minimal improvements which had begun around the time period in which the No Child Left Behind Act was passed. The act was also supported by a number of educators who voiced themselves by testifying against having the right to teach at their own free will. Teachers across America claimed that because of this new act, they felt a constant heaviness upon their shoulders from the state government to “Teach the test.”

    Read More

  • Analysis Of The No Child Left Behind Act

    1060 Words  | 3 Pages

    For as long as any American can remember, education has been a top priority of the majority of the population. The more schooling a child receives, the brighter their future becomes. Everyone wants their child to be successful in and out of the classroom, and the government has been working to make sure of this in schools nationwide. Over the years, a series of programs have been implemented to better the education of elementary and secondary students, including the No Child Left Behind Act, establishing guidelines and requirements that public schools are expected to follow and accomplish in order to provide a quality education to all of their students. But are these plans, policies, and promises working? Are the goals and objections being reached by each school as expected? Although some may argue that the No Child Left Behind Act has some positive aspects, overall, it is not working because some teachers have studied the outline of standardized tests, reworking their curriculums to teach students what they need to know in order to reach the required standards and students’ learning abilities, socioeconomic status’, and native languages are generalized into a single curriculum.

    Read More

  • No Child Left Behind: An Analysis of U.S Educational Policy

    705 Words  | 2 Pages

    No Child Left Behind (NCLB) is currently the educational policy in the United States. Prior to NCLB the educational policies in effect were “A Nation at Risk, in 1987 America 2000, and a few years later with Goals 2000” (Eisner, 2001, p.21). No Child Left Behind is a test based accountability system used in schools to measure their performance holding the districts, administrators and teachers liable and accountable for the outcomes. Supovitz (2009) States that No Child Left Behind was a major reform initiative intended to bring about widespread improvements in student performance and reduce inequities between ethnic groups and other traditionally under-served populations like economically disadvantaged students, students from major racial

    Read More

  • The Debate Over the No Child Left Behind Act

    1030 Words  | 3 Pages

    The National Education Association in the beginning supported the No Child Left Behind Act but knew that it needed some revisions before it would be the effective in the school system. The NEA felt that the Act met the requirements of ensuring equality among the school population but they disagreed with the Act’s accountability and testing requirements. Democrats and Republicans both showed great support when the Act was initially proposed by President Bush, but as time went on they to began to question the outcomes. Democrats and Republicans began to debate on the provisions in the Act of state accountability. “The National Conference of State Legislatures called the bill’s testing provisions “seriously and perhaps irreparably flawed.” (Rudalevige, 2003). This was due to the law not having any set way to account for the testing that was supposed to be part of the Act; it left that process up to the individual states.

    Read More

  • The No Child Left Behind Act: Bringing Down the American Education System

    2036 Words  | 5 Pages

    The No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) is bringing down the American education system for the sake of academic competition with other countries that use better methods. This country hasn’t changed its methods in decades. By addressing different aspects of the problem, it can be solved more efficiently and quickly. Three different aspects will be addressed here: what the American education system already does, what other countries are doing (as well as cultural differences), and what we should be doing. What we should be doing is a general combination of what other successful countries are doing, taking advice from experienced educators, and abolishing stressful, unnecessary practices.

    Read More

  • No Child Left Behind Program

    1149 Words  | 3 Pages

    Most educators and parents would desire an educational system where all students receive a balanced education that will afford all students the ability to compete in our ever changing society. This desire is great among students who live in economically challenged environments and those who attend poor schools. These students are at most risk of receiving a a proper education. This is partly due to lack of funding, and the inability for those poor schools to afford highly qualified teachers. Much controversy stems from this issue, poor schools not being able to afford highly trained teachers, students not having access to improved curriculums and extraordinary dropout rates. In an effort to combat these issues, the Bush administration implemented an act that purported to help schools to receive necessary funding for qualified teachers and to close the racial and ethnic gaps, known as the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLBA). However, the NCLBA failed to deliver on its promises and left already struggling schools and children in disarray attempting to reach government mandates rather than ensuring a balanced education for every student.

    Read More

  • No Child Left Behind

    964 Words  | 2 Pages

    As students in a Structure & Philosophy class, one of the main components has been to introduce and familiarize us with the No Child Left Behind Act. President Bush passed this legislation on January 8, 2002. The NCLB Act was designed to ensure each and every student the right to a fair education, to give parents more options in their child’s education, and to guarantee all teachers are highly qualified. By highly qualified, the act means teachers must have at least a bachelor’s degree, have full state certification or licensure, and have demonstrated competence in their subject areas (US Dept. of Education).

    Read More

  • No Child Left Behind

    1336 Words  | 3 Pages

    In the United States, education plays a vital role for the government. It was a major interest of our Founding Fathers in writing the Constitution because our democracy relies on an educated society. John Adams once stated, “Education for every class and rank of people down to the lowest and poorest.” Our Founding Fathers did not want education only for the upper class, but also for the lower class as well. Education is essential for the development and prosperity of our country. It has enhanced American financial and administrative leadership. In acknowledging the importance of education, the federal government took upon a grander role of financing public schools with the passage of Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) in 1965, which along the years was subjected to various reauthorizations. In 2001, the reauthorizations included No Child Left behind Act (NCLB), which required the states to set the standards for student performance as well as teacher quality. This act helps the educational advancement in schools because it improves the comprehensiveness and fairness of the American education.

    Read More

  • Essay On Professional Identity

    707 Words  | 2 Pages

    After pondering over the specific meaning behind professional identity and how I should answer this question, I realized that my professional identity is how I perceive myself within my occupational context. I was also going to mention some exact words that described me, however, I believe that a professional identity is not permanent. It is a concept that continues developing throughout our lives. I would like to refer to my professional identity as a process that is constantly influenced by my professors and their teaching style, by my interactions with my peers, and by the way I communicate with others. One of the things that I think is really important to me as a counselor in training, which I learned in my Master’s program, is the ability to empathize with people who come with a problem. I think empathy is a key element in the helping profession, and I enjoy learning how to do it the best possible way. Another factor that is very important to me is providing a sense of autonomy to clients and create an environment for them to feel safe to express what they are going through in life.

    Read More

  • No Child Left Behind

    1504 Words  | 4 Pages

    U. S. Department of Education (n. d.). Overview: Making a difference: No child left behind. Retrieved from http://www2.ed.gov/nclb/overview/importance/difference/index.html

    Read More

  • Continuing Professional Development In Health And Social Care Essay

    818 Words  | 2 Pages

    1.1 In recent years the health and social care has experienced significant changes, change is now an expected part of everyday life in this industry. During this time significant social change has also taken place therefore health and social care has been impacted by higher expectations for quality of care and support, there is also a much higher emphasis on personalisation and partnership working. Due to constant change you cannot expect to stop learning when you achieve your qualification, professional development must be seen as a continuous process.

    Read More

More about Essay On Importance Of Professional Organizations

Open Document